READINGS

1. Luke 17:11-19

HOMILY

Today's Gospel continues directly on from last Sunday's Gospel.

Here we are back on the road on the way to Jerusalem.

Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.

Lots of ink has been spilt as to what that might mean, but I've had the good fortune to come across a French edition, the French translation of the Aramaic version of Luke's Gospel.

That's the ancient language that Jesus spoke and that people are around him spoke.

It turns out that it's slightly different in that version, but gives a very good sense of exactly where Jesus was going.

There it is: Jesus wandered in his root towards Jerusalem, a desolate region of North Samaria.

It turns out that there is a region at the borders of Samaria with Galilee, one-third of which is pretty much desolate, there are no villages there.

In the next two-thirds, as you head south, there are some villages.

So it actually makes perfect sense that that would be a place in which a group of lepers might hang out.

Furthermore, because it was between Samaria and Galilee that the lepers would be mixed, people of both Jewish and Samaritan inheritance, a heritage.

It's interesting that the Aramaic verb for wandering is the same verb as the verb we get in Hebrew nomad: abra - he wandered.

So there's a wandering Hebrew [Jesus] through this territory.

We'll just have a little hint as to how some of these words play out later.

As he entered the village, ten lepers approached him.

Actually rather bizarre that the English translation here says ten lepers who were men.

It could simply say ten lepers with the masculine, but it has ten lepers men.

Presumably, the reason it says men is to indicate that they were of mixed background, there were no women present, but these men were of mixed background, rather than give their ethnicity.

They drew near, but they kept their distance, they stood back from him.

The verb, apparently, is the one of being frightened of dogs, keep the distance.

They called out - the Aramean is: they raised up their voices, as one raises one's voice to heaven.

And they said: Jesus, rabbi, rabbuni, - and not have mercy on us, which would suggest that they're asking for forgiveness - but have pity on us, which is the word you would call out if you want a concrete practical solution.

Help me out with my car wreck, it's that sort of thing, rather than forgive me my sins for I am terrible.

They've presumably heard about him; do something for us - they've heard that he can do things.

When he saw them he said to them: Go and show yourselves to the priests.

Interesting... go and show your neck to the priests - you remember the Aramaic way of saying yourself, your soul, your ass is the neck - go show your neck to the priests.

Also interesting, he doesn't specify which priests.

In this sense, Jesus would presumably have been perfectly happy for those of Samaritan heritage to go to the Samaritan priests, and those of Jewish heritage to go to the Jewish priests.

The point was that the priests had a bureaucratic function as the local registers of health issues.

You need it in order before you could move back into acceptable society cleansed, purified from whatever the strange skin condition, which is not the same as Hansen's disease as we now call leprosy.

Whatever that strange condition was, you needed the priest as the equivalent of the local health official to certify that you could now come back into ordinary society.

He said: and as they went, they were made clean. Of course, that is how faith works for Jesus.

Jesus tells them to do something, he doesn't say I cleanse you.

Jesus says: just go and tell the priests, go and show yourself to the priests.

And they believe him, they've already asked for pity, and they know that he can do this.

And, as they go, they find themselves clean, on the route they find themselves clean.

That's how faith works: as we find ourselves walking towards something that we believe is good that is coming towards us, so actually we are transformed into that thing that is coming towards us.

So there's nothing wrong.

Then, one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back praising God with a loud voice.

He prostrated himself at Jesus's feet and thanked him, and he was a Samaritan.

Now, remember that this group of people was... apparently, this was quite a normal thing, groups of lepers would hang out together so as to help each other, basically they were social solidarity groups in a difficult place; they were the rejects and they would hang out and look after each other.

Apparently during that rejecting they would pay little attention to who was a Jew, who was a Samaritan, because they shared their rejectedness.

So this one, when he saw that he was healed, he'd head off with them, turns back and praises God with a loud voice.

He realizes something wonderful has been done to him, and he comes back to Jesus, he prostrates himself at Jesus and thanks him.

in fact, he's very exaggerated, he acts as one would towards a king or towards God.

This is a very very extravagant behaviour.

And he was a Samaritan: in other words, when people were cleaning he was the kind of person who they would want to be separate from.

Anyhow, and then Jesus asked; and in the Aramaic version it's perfectly clear that Jesus is asking him.

He says: weren't ten of you healed or cleansed? The nine others, why have they separated themselves off and not come back and given thanks.

But then he turns to other people:

This stranger (here the word stranger might be more like a heretic - this outsider, it's allogenous, this other) has come back.

He was the only one among them who came back and gave glory to God.

It's interesting that in the Aramean version those who set themselves apart and don't come back to give thanks, they're just heading off towards getting their cure - perfectly legitimate.

But the same verb was setting themselves apart is the same that gives us Pharisees - those who separate themselves.

The suggestion being that these people, once they're purified, are perfectly happy to go back into belonging to the system where all the old ins and outs will function normally, whereas the Samaritan, one of the outsiders, has perceived something much bigger than that, what has happened.

He's not being put back into any system, he's been brought to life by this, which is why he's been able to come and give a completely wholehearted act of thanks to Jesus and to God.

There's been such a change in his life that he's broken free of having to go along with what the others are doing.

He's now able to step out not concerned with whether he's part of the group or not and come to give thanks.

So Jesus says to him: get up and go, your faith has saved you.

Actually, it's your faith that has given you your life.

And it's interesting here that this is not just something the same as the others.

He's definitely saying something more here (at least according to the Aramaic version).

Any of them have been cleaned (being clean, being cleansed, was a cultic matter); but this one shows that it's more than being a cleansed, he has actually recovered his soul, his sense of being human, his neck has been brought to life.

Jesus is observing how the ones who fit back into the system... well, they've been cleansed, but this one, this one has seen something more than that.

By his attitude, you can tell that his whole life has begun in a completely new and rich way.

This is very much in line with Jesus commenting about the woman who washed him with her tears and dried with her hair:

It must be because she has loved so much that she has been forgiven. 

You can tell that she has been forgiven, because she has loved so much. 

Rather than now, she'll be forgiven then she'll be able to love.

Jesus is noticing something with a delight seeing someone coming to life, because their wholeheartedness has taken them way beyond what might have happened.

This is something of what the Gospel of grace is about: Jesus is taking delight in us finding ourselves taken far beyond simple perfunctory "thank-you" a lot always and actually being able to live with enormous gratitude as we find ourselves brought to life.

SUMMARY

13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

The lepers say: Jesus, not have mercy on us (which would suggest that they're asking for forgiveness), but have pity on us (which is the word you would call out if you want to a concrete practical solution).

14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” 

Jesus doesn't specify which priests, so he would presumably have been perfectly happy for those of Samaritan heritage to go to the Samaritan priests, and those of Jewish heritage to go to the Jewish priests.

Priests had a bureaucratic function on health issues, so the lepers need them to move back into acceptable society cleansed.

And as they went, they were cleansed.

This is how faith works for Jesus.

He tells them to do something, he doesn't say I cleanse you.

As we find ourselves walking towards something that we believe is good that is coming towards us, so actually we are transformed into that thing that is coming towards us.

15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 

This group of people would hang out together so as to help each other. Basically they were social solidarity groups in a difficult place.

They were rejects and they would hang out and look after each other, which little attention to who was samaritan or jew.

17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 

The verb 'setting themselves apart' is the same verb that gives us Pharisees - those who separate themselves.

So these people, once they're purified, are perfectly happy to go back into belonging to the system where all the old ins and out will function normally.

However, the Samaritan, one of the outsiders, has perceived something much bigger than that has happened.

He's not being put back in any system, but been brought to life by this, which is why he's been able to come and give a completely wholehearted act of thanks Jesus and to God.

There's been such a change in his life that he's broken free of having to go along with what the others are doing.

He's now able to step out not concerned with whether he's part of the group or not and come to give thanks.

Jesus is taking delight in us finding ourselves taken far beyond simple perfunctory thank-you and actually being able to live with enormous gratitude as we find ourselves brought to life.